Question

I am using jquery 1.3 version

<div id='mainPanel'>
   <div>   
     <h3>Head #1 <a href="#"><input type="text" value="Type 1"/> </a></h3>

     <div>
        <div id="panel_1">
          <div class="items">
             <div><input type='text' value="0"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="1"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="2"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="3"/></div>
        </div> 
      </div>
     </div>

   <div>   
     <h3>Head #2 <a href="#"><input type="text" value="Type 2"/> </a></h3>
     <div>
        <div id="panel_2">
          <div class="items">
             <div><input type='text' value="0"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="1"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="2"/></div>
             <div><input type='text' value="3"/></div>
        </div> 
      </div>
     </div>

   <div>
</div>

Now , here i want to access the text box values from head div and need a id i.e. panel_1 and panel_2

so to do that i have written down following code

  $("#mainPanel > div > h3").each(function(index) {

        var panelId = $(this).attr('id'); // i.e. panel_1 and all

        // parent > child notation
        var ele = $(this).next('div > div > div > div').each(function(index){ 


           alert($(this).children('input').val());


});

});

Here i am failed to get the result using parent > child notation

HOW CAN I ACCESS H3 > A > INPUT ‘s value here

Answer 1

The <h3> elements do not contain any <div> elements at all, so that first selector will mess things up. Really there’s no need for it to be so complicated:

$('#panel_1 input').each(function() { ...

will get you all the input elements in “panel_1”.

edit — an alternative, now that I see what you mean by, “I need an id”:

$('div.mainPanel div.items').each(function() {
  var containerId = $(this).closest('div[id]').attr('id');
  $(this).find('input').each(function() {
    var anInput = $(this);
    // ...
  });
});

Relying on a rigid container structure seems like a recipe for long-term problems. That’s why “class” and “id” values are so useful – the exact markup structure can change, but flexible code can continue to work.